SULLIVAN REPUBLICAN. W, M, CHENEY, Publisher. VOL. XI. According to the last census there are 33,163 lawyers in the United States. Improved roads furnish one of the most direct aids to agricultural develop ment. New York City has not furnished a United States Senator in more than fifty years. Nathan Sanford, elected in 1831, was the last. A student in a Western college pro poses to deliver a lecture on commence ment day on"The Relation of the Wheelbarrow to American Elections." The Indiana oourts have a curious problem, relates the Washington Star. A man who was fined for profanity ap pealed on the ground that he was on his own premises when he spoke, ami had a right to use any kind of language that be pleased. Repoits still come in, states the New York World, of the electrical impostor who appears in various localities with inventions greater thar. the Bell tele phone or the Edison light, sells a little stock and then disappears. England is now infected with him, together with other and older electric frauds hereto fore well known in this country. Mrs. M. A. Dorchester, special agent for the Indian School Service, in hjr annual report refers to improvements in the school buildings in reference to com fort, safety, hettlthfulucss and general respectability. She says that theic has been a great improvement in the variety and quality of food famished; the table service is more attractive, and there is a marked change for the better in the moral and social atmosphere of the schools. The use of rubber tires on private car riages has become quite common in New York City, says the Scientific American. For invalids and nervous persons our physicians recommend their use. But the rubber tire is not only expensive, but lasts only a little while, owing to our rough pavements and street railway tracks. AVny will not some one invent a cheaper substance than rubber, which will be more enduring, cost les3, and be sufficiently elastic -to meet the require ments? One of the late Jay Gould's sons has ordered from a press-clipping bureau "all the comments and accouats about" bis father which have appeared, or will appear, in "all the newspapers of the world." It will be a costly collection beyond the mere clippings, as it will re quire the employment of numerous trans lators to write out in our language the extracts from Chinese, Japanese, Egyp tian, Russian, Turkis'i, Spanish, Italian, French, German an;l numerous other publications. Says the San Francisco Examiner: The microscope recently revealed to a Rhode Island expert that certain blood stains were of human origin, aud certain hairs found in conjunction with the stains were from the blond whiskers of a man. Detectives scurried hither and thither. They traced all clues faithfully, and ascertained that they centered in the limp carcass of a yellow dog, slain with a brick. The strides of science are often marvelous, none the less so perhaps be cause not always in the right direction. The Japanese, if they believe in omens, will reject any more applications from French builders of war vessels, predicts the San Frauc ! sao Chronicle. The second French vessel accepted for the Japanese Navy has been lost in the inland sea, but this time survivors re main to tell the story of the disaster. The other vessel lost was the Unebikan, of which no word was ever received. It was assumed that she struck on a rock and foundered, but her fate is one of those mysteries that will never be ex plained until the sea gives up its dead. The Atlauta Constitution remarks: ••It has long been admitted that the bus iness of the postoffice is a gDod test ol the country's progress. Measured by this standard, the South is in the lead. Ac cording to the report of the Fourth As sistant Postmaster General, there has been a net increase of 2700 postoffices in the United States over the year end ing June 30, 1891. This showing sur passes all former records, and the most interesting feature is the fact that more than one-fourth of the new offices were established iu the six States of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Mississippi and Texas, an unmistakable proof of our growing population, swelling volume of business and general advancement. Whether we take the assessed value of property, the number of new enterprises, the increase of population, the per capita increase in wealth, or these postal figures as a test, the fact looms up that the new South is forging ahead more satisfactorily than an; other section of the country," THREE KISSES OF FAREWEL',. Throe, only three, My Darling, Separate, solemn, slow. Not like the swift and joyous ones We used to know . When wa kissed because we loved each other. Simply, to taste love's sweets, And lavished our kisses as summer Lavishes heats; Bnt as the kiss whose hearts are wrung When hope and fear are spent, And nothing is left to give, except A sacrament! First of the three, My Darling, Is sacr&i unto pain; We have hurt each other often, We shall again; When we pine because we miss each other, And do not understand How the written words are so much colder Than eye and hand, I kiss thee, dear, for all such pain Which we may give or take; Buried, forgiven, before it comes, For cur love's sake. The second kiss, My Darling, Is full of joy's sweet thrill; We have blessed each other always, We always will. We shall reach until we find each other Past all time and space; We sha 1 listen till we%ear each other Iu every place. The earth is full of messengers Which love sends to and fro; I kiss thee, Darling, for all joy Which we shall know. The last kiss, O My Darling, My love—l cannot see Through my tears as I remember What it may be. We may die and never see each other. Die with no time to give Any sign that our heart 3 are faithful To die, as live. Token of what they will not see Who see our parting breatb. This one last kiss, My Darling, Seals the seal of death. —Saxe Holm. A QUAKER IDYL BY W. BEItT FOSTER. A T was a white painted elm shaded farm house standing back |Wi lrom the road. The HJ| well kept gravel V 88l walks led from the (]{|| gates between rows P r ' m hollyhocks to the door stones— HB these lotter scrubbed • M as clean and while 'B *ff 'li UMI as t ' ic kitchen floors LJP 1 ' the neighboring doniiclcs. Cleanli -ness was Sister Hedhzibah's greatest fault—for cleanli ness can be carried to that extent. Even solemn voiced, methodical Stephen Carew was at tines vaguely conscious of this failing on his wife's part. On all sides of the comfortable house swept the broad acres of Stephen's farm —the richest, the most productive of the goodly homesteads in that Quaker com munity. Stephen and Hephzibah always used their substance rightfully, however. No breath of suspicion ever rested on their dealings with their neighbors or associates. For fifty years and more their lives had been blameless in the eyes of their Quaker brethren. Fcr six generations the Carews had held farm, and Stephen often thought with almost carnal pride how blessed he was in having a son with whom he could trust the property when he should be gathered to his fathers. The son, Benjamin by name, a great, strapping fellow of eight and twenty, was much like his father—grave, sedate, methodical. Benjamin carefully followed in the footsteps of hi 3 parents, too, and was a Quaker of the strickest sect. In his staid, undemonstrative fashion he was paying attentions to one of the neigh bors' daughters, as demute a little friend as one could wish. Yes, Stephen and Hephzibah were entirely satisfied with their son; but their daughters, Marion and Ruth, were somewhat disappointing. The elder of these had showed plainly her indifference to the teachings and traditions of the Friends in her child hood; but until rccentty Ruth had always bowed with becoming docility to her parents' will. Ruth was twenty, a daintily formed cteature with, transpar ent skin, beneath which the blood flushed warmly. She was a dreamy, diffident girl, much unlike her older sister. Marion early showed traits of inde pendence vhich had beeo>quite unknown among the women of the Carew family in former generations. She was a plain girl, a good foil for Ruth's delicate beauty, but Marion's was much the stronger face. Although plainly indif ferent to the beliefs and services of the Friends, she had never openly antagon ized her parents by refusing to attend their place of worship when at home. She was four years older tlian Ruth, and for three years past had been teaching school in a neighboring town. Within the past twenty years many families who were not of the sect of the Friends had taken up their resi dence in the community), and among the comparatively new comers were the Harleys. Darius Harley was three years old wheu his parents moved into the place, and the Har ley farm being nearest to Stephen Carews, Darius and the Carew children were playmates all through their school days. Benjamin's school days were over some years before the other children's and he quickly grew out of his intimacy with Darius, who was of the "world's people," and asso ciated with the young men of his own sect. Both the girls, however, and Ruth especially, continued the friend ship. From the time that he and Ruth had, hand in band, chased the butterflies and gathered daisies and buttercups in Stephen Carew's great meadow, Darius LAPORTE, PA., FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 1893. had always felt a soft spot in his boyish heart for pretty Ruth. As they grew older it was Darius who carried her books to and from the village school and in winter dragged her over the frozen snow drifts on his sled. At the few merrymakings that Stephen and his wile would allow their young people to at tend, Darius Harley was always at Ruth's side. When Ruth was fourteen she was sent to the Friend* school in a neighboring city, from which Benjamin had already graduated, and where Marion was then finishing her education. The Harleys were well to do people, and the school was of the best, though conducted with extreme strictness; so when Dariis ex pressed a desire to attend it, his wish wasgranted. lam afraid he caused the teachers no end of trouble, and gained but little knowledge himself; but he was near Ruth, and that seemed to satisfy both of them. When their schooldays were over, and Darius had returned home to work on the farm while he was making up his mind what business he should pursue in life, this little drama, which has been acted so often since the world began, be came more deeply interesting and took on somewhat of a darker coloring. Stepheu and his good wife quickly saw that their youngest daughter was tread ing on dangerous ground—in fact that there was danger of what more fasbiop able parents would have termed a mesal liance. Therefore with the obtuseness of the great majority ot parents who have the same question to face, Stephen denied Darius entrance to his house. Thus open warfare was at once declared without any strategic movements being made on old Stephen's part. It was Darius who resorted to strategy. At first the young man's only consola tion was togo to the Friends' meeting on Sabbath days and sit with eyes steadily fixed on a certain gray gowned and bonneted figure far down on the other side of the house. Alter a few weeks this inaction became maddening, and Darius acquired a habit of taking early morning walks past the Carew home stead in the hope of seeing Ruth. }'e was not disappointed. One morn i' he found her alone by tho hedge her, well out of sight of the houss. /n for the flrst time he saw how wan pale she looked—so different from light hearted girl who had cjme back with him lrom school. "Oh, Ruth!" he exclaimed, bounding lightly over the low wall that separated the Carew premises from the road. "Have you been ill?" was his flrst ques tion, as he seized her two trembling little hands. She shook her head, not daring to trust her voice, and trying to smile brightly info tho eyes that gazed so anx iously down into hers. But the smile was a poor attempt, r.nd ended in a sob. Darius drew her uuresistingly to his arms. . "It's an eternal shame 1" he burst forth. "What if lamof a different re ligious belief from you? It shouldn't part us like this—and it shall not, either, Ruth. I love you, you know I do, and I know that you love me.," he went on, firmly; "and if that's so, no unjust opposition shall make us unhap py for life." '•Father thinks he is right, Dare," whispered Ruth, softly, clinging to the strong arm of her lover. "That makes it all the harder—for us," responded Darius. "I've beeu waiting to see you, dear, before. Igo away, for I wanted to hear from your own lips that you loved me and that you would wait until I could earn a home for you." "Father and mother will never give their consent." "But you love me, Ruth?" "Yes, Dare," "Then," said the young man, bravely, "we will find some way to overcome their opposition. I've been offered a clerkship in my cousin Henderson's store in the city, with a chance to be partner if I like the business. I'll go to-morrow, and as soon as I'm on my feet I shall come and ask for you." But Ruth only sobbed softly and clung to his arm. *»♦»*» Stephen Carew heard of young Ilarley's departure with a feeling of relief. With the cause removed,ho thought, with the blindness of his masculine mind, that Ruth would soon become her old self again. Sister Hephzibah might have told him differently, but it had never been Stephen's way to ask advice from that quarter, nor did his wife expect to give any. She lived in a little world by herself—a world of cooking, cleaning, and mending—and her great disappointment had always been that neither of her had shown the same love for baking and brewing that made her a kitchen drudge through all her married life. With aching heart she saw Ruth's slowly waning health and her lack of interest in the events of their every day life. Stephen, too, could not help notic ing tho change which had como over his daughter; yet neither thought of bending their will a hair's breadth to Ruth's wish. Their duty demanded that their children should be joined to none but those of their own sect, not to the world's people. Still the girl's si lent suffering caused lines of care to show more deeply on Hephzibah's face, and Stephen's grizzled hair grew whiter day by day. * Months went by each of which saw Ruth a little paler: and more silent than before. Marion came home for her summer vacation, and with startled eyes saw the change which had taken place in her sister's appearance. She likewise expressed her opinion on the state of affairs with her usual independence; and perhaps this had something to do with Stephen's allowing Ruth togo away with her sister to teach in the fall. On one point the father was firm, however. Ruth must promise not to allow Darius Harley to call upon her, and not to com municate with her. At first Marion thought that work and new surroundings had given her sister a fresh interest in life, but after the first few weeks Ruth seemed much the same as ever. The only time when she ap peared brighter was when she received a letter from Darius. He wrote regularly, and although Ruth's promise prevented her from answering his letters, Marion failed not to keep the young man fully informed as to her sister's health and their life in the country town where they were teaching. Once a month the sisters went home to spend the Sabbath, and more plainly than ever did 3tepben Carew and his wife see the change that had come over Ruth. But their supposed duty was still master, and a hard one it proved. They blamed themselves now for ever letting their children mingle at all with the world's people. One of these Sabbaths Darius was at home, too, and attended the Friends' meeting. All through the long service he watched the figure of Ruth in her modest gown, but not until they met face to face on the meeting house porch did he realize how terribly she bad changed. Only a moment they stood there together aud clasped bands, for Stephen, with his hard, stern eyes glar ing at them, was close by. Darius went home in a daze. Could that be Ruth Carew, that pa!e, quiet girl, whose mouth had such a sorrowful droop when in repose? Why, she had been the life of all their school day merry makings I He th"»trht some very bitter thoughts of Stephen Carew, and I am afraid the old man deserved them all. One thing Daru; was determined on. He had been pajf at, hoping for some change of feeliqr- to como over Stephen and his wife, but patience had ceased to be a virtue. He would stand idly by no longer and see Ruth die by iucbcs under her parents' cruelty. With this determination he went back to the city the following day and wrote two letters, one to Ruth aud the other to Stephen Carew. Several days after returiing to her school Ruth received a letter addressed' in a handwriting she knew at once. She waited until she was alone in her room with Marion before opening the missive. She had hardly glanced at its coutents, however, when Marion was startled by hearing her sister shriek, and turned to see her gazing, pule and horrified, at the open lette. "What is it?" demanded the practical Marion, grasping the bottle of smelling salts and hurrying to her sister's side. "Oil, read thatl" cried Ruth, begin ning to weep. "What has he done? That is a letter to father. Dare must have written to both father and me, and inclosed the letters ia the wrong envel opes. What will happen to us now?" Marion took the letter from her sis ter's unresisting harm and read it. She fully realized what an effect it would probably have upon her father if Darius had made the blunder Ruth suggested. Stephen Carew had been totally ignor ant of the one-sided correspondence the young man had kept up, and if Darius had written to Ruth in his usual strain, in all probability their father would be furiously angry upon reading the letter. Marion read the letter intended for ber father in surprise, though not with out satisfaction. It was as follows: STEPHEN CAREW, ESQUIRB: Mir—l have never had an opportunity to tell jou of my attachment for your daugh ter Kuth, but you have known it, and also cannot fail to know that she iu turn laves me. I have hoped that you would see how necessary it is to her happiness, as well as my own, that we be allowed to become en gaged, cut you appear to be as greatly opposed to ine now as ever. However, I can stand this no longer. I love Ruth, and even it you cannot see it,l realize that unless there is a change some where her life will be greatly shortened. You may, perhaps, be able to stand calmly by and see ber die by inches, but I cannot, nor do I propose to. lam able to support her, and in a few weeks she will be legally of age. If you still withhold your consent I shall use every argument and all the in fluence in my power to gain ber consent to a marriage without your sanction. Yours, very respectfully, DARIUB HARLEY. "What shall wo do? I never shall dare togo home again," cried Ruth, hysterically, wheu Marion had finished reading the letter. "Then go and marry Dare and stay away for good," exclaimed Marion, des perately. Then she threw her arms around her younger sister, and together the two girls had a "good cry" in all the femin ine meaning of the term. Before the week was over Ruth was fairly ill with apprehension, and it was only because of Marion's stronger will power that she decided togo home on Saturday. The older girl plainly saw that the best way would be to have it over at once. Nothing less thaa a ter ribly severe lecture, and a stern refusal to listen for a moment to Darius Harley's plea, was what both expected on Stephen Carew's part. But, strange to relate, cothing of the kind occurred. Stephen had received the letter Intend ed for Ruth, as they had supposed, and had had umple time to think o«r the whole matter. In the lettor Darius had written very much as he bad in the other epistle. Tno old Quaker could not help seeing the sincerity of the young man's attachment. Something beside duty to his religious belief softened his heart toward Ruth, and his greeting to her was very different from the one which she had fearfully expected. "Thee has a letter for me, has thee not, Ruth?'' asked Stephen gravely. With trembling hand tho girl handed him the epistle. "Thee will find thy own in thy room," was his only commont as he walked slowly away toward the barn. His daughters looked at each other iu glad surprise, though with much uncer tainty as to what would be the outcome of the affair. Stephen said nothing further until after the evening meal. Then he called Ruth into the pleasant sitting room through whose windows shone the glory of the setting sun. "Ruth, would thee consent to be mar ried away from thy own fireside!" "If it must be," she roplied travoly. j "I cannot live this way." | "And is it this that makes thee ill of both mind and body?" he asked more tenderly. "Yes, father." Old Stephen ,*THS silent a moment or two. 0^ "Thee must not be married away from thy home, Ruth. Thee can tell the young man that I say so," he said finally.— Munsey's Magazine. SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL. Most sheep die before they are a year old. A vast mine of superior fire-clay has been discovered in Yincennes, Ind. A method of compressing wood, so that it becomes as hard as iron, has been discovered. An eminent authority has it that the death rat* of the world is calculated to be sixty-seven per minute. In England, France, Germany and Belgium the number of births per thou sand of population is steadily falling. Drops of water falling continuously upon a two-inch plank would wear a hole through it in about thirty-five years. It has been observed that the children of very young parents rarely attain vigor of mind or body, while the children of aged parents are usually old-fashioned and sedate. According to a paper recently read before the Statistical Society in Paris, there are in use in France 78,600 steam engines, having a total of 5,360,000 horse-pc wer. Dr. Morris Gibbs contributes to Science an interesting paper on the food of humming birds both old and young, but has never found anything to con vince him the birds live on insects. The professor of chemistry at Rouen, France, M. Bidard, has brought for ward a new theory regarding storage batteries, which is said to make an im portant advance in electrical science. A remarkable surgical operation has recently been performed in Berlin. A patient suffering from chronic neuralgia has been cured by the removal of the diseased nerve from the interior coating of the skull. It has been found by Dr. Riley that the larvie of both the bean and the pea weevil when hatched have thoracic feet iind other structures which admirably serve their needs of locomotion until tbev enter the bean or pea, when with a cast of the skin they are discarded, and the grubs assume the ordinaiy footless shapo of larval weevils. The ref ort of a commission appointed at the instance of the Massachusetts Railroad Commission for the determina tion of the best form of fender for use on electric cars contains a recommenda tion of the invention of a master me chanic of the Boston West End Railway. Two hundred and eleven fenders were submitted to the Commission. Electric heaters are found to be ex cellent for use in conservatories on ac count of the absence of all unwhole some gases or vapors which might injure the plants, simplicity of construction in the parts conveying the energy, perfect safety as regards heat, which can be regulated at will, cleanliness and con venience and rapidity in starting and ex tinction. The increasing value of effective in sulators in electrical work causes im portance to be attached to the statement that india rubber will soon be made commercially. The discovery made by Dr. 11. A. Tildin, some months ago, that isoprene, which can be prepared from turpentine, under certain condi tions changes into what appears to be genuine rubber, has been followed up by experiments, the result of which points to an early utilization of the new pro cess. Moorish Slavery. It would d'/ those good who write passionate articles on Moorish slavery to see the well-fed, lazy slave of Wazan lounging in the sun, kill pipe in mouth, and scarcely doing a stroke of woik from week's end to week's end. The most ordinary English kitchenmaid would accomplish is a couple of hours what a Wazan slave does in a week. All are freo to come and go as they please, but none avail themselves of this free dom. The reason is not far to seek. In Wnzan they are fed and clothed by the sbereefs, and on holidays and feast days receive presents of money. Thus all the necessities of life are found them without their having to work for them, which otherwise they would bo obliged to do. Nor is it only the necessities of life that are thus sup plied to them free, but they are given each his room to live in and married at the expense of the shereefs to slave wo men. Their children, by law slaves, are not necessarily so, and are often appren ticed to workmen to learn some trade, or if they wish aro free to seek their for tunes in other lands.—Blackwood'* Magazine. Tha Potomato. "Potomato" is the name given a cu rious manufactured vegetable which owes its origin to Dr. B. C. Culner, of Atch ison, Kan. For more than twenty years the Doctor has been experimenting with a view of crossing the potato and tomato vines. It is claimed that this has at last been accomplished and that a species of vine has been thus literally manufactured, and that it will produce both potatoes and tomatoes, both of which grow in their natural elements.— St. Louis Republic. A Lake in an Extinct Volcano. A large lake has been found, it is said, on the ridge of the Olympic Mountain*, in Washington, between the Duckabuth and Snohomish Rivers. It ia situated in a deep basin of the mountains, at altitude of about five thousand feet, and thebaain Is claimed to be, in all probability, the crater of an extinct volcano. It is further stated to be two miles long and half a mile wide, with depth unknown, as the cliff descends perpendicularly into the t water on all sides.—Boston Transcript. Terms—sl.oo in Advance; 81.25 after Three Months. A BIG FORTUNE IN BONE. AN EXTRAORDINARY SIGHT NEAR BAN FRANCISCO. Whales' Teeth Guarded Like Dia monds— Surrounded by Stone Walls and Watched. Constantly. A LIT TLE brick and stone struc ture on the Potrero shore of the bay contains a million dol (. lars' worth of whalebone stored and guarded as jealously as if it were so many twenty-dollar gold pieces or its weight in precious stones. It is the property of the Pacific Steam Whaling Company and came off the whaling l>arks Beluga, Mary D. Hume, Agenor and Amer'ca, lately in from the Arctic. The building is a perfect vault with brick and stone sides, iron roof and iron doors. All around the top runs a per forated pipe by means of which the whole interior could be flooded if a fire should by any possibility break out. Rats are thick on the water front and can do a great deal of damage to a cargo of whalebone, so small iron doors have been putin to answer as barricades when the big ones are opened to air the place. Oil skins such as the tire patrol use are spread over the cargo as the final addi tional precaution that human ingenuity can suggest. The aninitiated on first stepping into the cold, cheerless place, with its damp cemeut floor, are apt to wonder why it lias all been done. The long black stalks don't look like much piled against the walls, and to hear their immense value set forth is enough to take the breath uway. But the place docs not always contain a $1,000,000 stock. The season just closing was a most profitable one and in consequence the warehouse is nearly full. "The laiy purchasing a few sticks of whalebone on her shopping tour scarcely realizes the immense risk and the great amount of labor necessary to place it on the counters," said W. R. Wand, one of the reprtsentatives of the whaling com pany. "There is a big risk even here. We can take no chances. In the rough, after a simple polishing, the bone is worth 112 5 a pound and we have at least 200,000 pounds on hand now. When the vessel docks at the wharf yonder we pitch in aud work day and night uutil the cargo is boused in here and then we try to get it off on the railroad as soon as possible. While it is here this little structure is guarded day and night. A million dollars is something of a re sponsibility I can assure you." "Where does most of the bone got" was asked. "A great deal of it goes to New York." replied Mr. Waud, "but most of the cutting is done iu Paris and Bremen. A little is done in London. We polish it off here, get the color, assort it out and put it up in bundles. Then it is forced through to its destination as rapidly as possible. You see the bone with a light or pearl shade is worth more than the black, and we hava to separate it. Several of the bundles bore the mark M. D. H. in a diamond. "That," said Mr. Wands, "is the name of the vessel from which the bone was taken; in this instance the Mary D. Hume, a vessel which brought the most valuable cargo ever received from the Arctic seas. One or two of these bundles are marked 'cut,' you observe. That is to guide the buyer when the bone is offered for sale. It signifies that the bone is knicked on some portion of it. The value is greatly reduced, and we must therefore handle the cirgo like eggs. If roughly handled, a cargo ot whalebone can be well nigh ruined. The slightest cut in a stalk brings it down in value about one-half. " I'he bone you know is the teeth of the whale, and a fair sized front molar is worth about SSO. In every whale's jaw there are 473 teeth, and one good sized head is worth a good deal of money. On the last trip the men on the Jessie D. Freeman brought one big fellow along side, the head of which produced 3000 pounds of bone. The mouth of the whale is simply a huge suction pump. The monster travels aloug with his mouth wide open on the surface. The only food he will take is a little red bit of animal life that floats on the northern seas. He sucks in enough to make a good mouthful and then ejects the water. The food is sifted down through the soft teeth, and is filtered like a lot of sawdust would be in a sieve." '■This black bair that fringes the bone has a separate value. It is cut from the teeth and is used for making fine furniture. It has become so valu able, however, that it cannot be used to any great extent." "Ever troubled by thieves?" "No," was the laughing response. "The bone is a tiifie too heavy to run away with and the place is too well guarded. Fire is the greatest danger, and you can see how that has been guarded againft."— San Franciscc Chronicle. Hair Snakes or Worms. There is nothing very mysterious about the common hair-snake or worm to those who know something of its history and habits. They are not transformed h